I'm really short on time these days (thunderstorm season is well on the swing – in the meteorology world, the busiest season!) – but I'd like to thank you for all the love and awesome comments you've left throughout social media regarding the Summery Geometry mani. It's so kind of you and today's post is all about a little somethin’ somethin’ which has helped this pretty design to last that little bit longer. I wrote about the Catrice gel at-home nail setup so I assume that those of you who have read that post would find a comparison to the Essence offering quite helpful. Essence Gel Nail Polish At-Home Station: Does It Work? Well, in its own way yes it does but this is quite a restrictive system and I'll be glad to elaborate. As with Catrice, you get a base coat, you slap 1-2 coats of your nail polish and seal this ‘sandwich’ with a dedicated top coat. Such system should prolonge the longevity of nail polish, add to its durability to chipping and wear tell-tale marks, give the nail that characteristic gelled nails shine – all without the need for an LED or UV lamp. And everything is easily removed with a regular nail polish remover. This should be a quick, easy way to get great and long-lasting results. However, there is a glitch. First of all, the biggest difference between the Catrice and Essence gel systems is that you can combine the Catrice one with Catrice and any other nail polish your heart desires. Catrice system works almost equally well (slightly better with Catrice polishes, though) on all of them while the Essence system is made to enhance the performance of the Essence “gel nail polish” by 60 percent. This claim can be found on the products and online (at the website) as well. So, at the very start, you're limited to Essence nail polishes from their gel range. I've tried using the system with other nail polishes and it failed – my Essie's have chipped faster with the system than without it.
Prilicno sam u stisci sa vremenom ovih dana (sezona grmljavinskih oblaka je uveliko zapocela – u svijetu meteorologije, najzivahnija sezona godine!) – no zeljela bih da vam se zahvalim na divnim rijecima i komentarima uopsteno koje ste ostavljale diljem drustvenih mreza u vezi sa Summery Geometry manikirom. Bas mi je drago da vam se dopao a danasnji post je u posvecen necemu sto je pomoglo da ovaj dizajn na mojim noktima ostane sto je duze moguce. U maju sam pisala o Catrice kucnoj verziji geliranih noktiju i pretpostavljam da, ako ste citale taj post, bti cete zainteresovane za poredjenje sa Essence setom. Essence kucna varijanta geliranih noktiju: Da li zaista funkcionise? Na odredjeni nacin da, ali ovaj sistem za manikir je dosta ogranicen – veoma rado cu objasniti na sta tacno mislim pod tim. Kakav je slucaj i kod Catrice brenda, sistem se sastoji od baznog laka, 1-2 sloja laka za nokte po zelji i nadlaka koji zatvara ovaj “manikir sendvic”. Ovaj sistem lakiranja produzuje trajnost manikira, njegovu trajnost i otpornost na tragove nosenja, pruza noktima sjaj karakteristican za gelirane nokte – sve to bez potrebe za koristenjem LED ili UV lampe. I ovakav manikir se uklanja standardnim skidacem laka za nokte. Sve u svemu, sistemi za kucno lakiranje sa gel efektom bi za adut imali kucnu upotrebu, jednostavnost, brzinu i odlicne (gotovo profesionalne) rezultate. No, postoji kvaka. Prije svega, najveca razlika izmedju Catrice i Essence sistema za kucno geliranje je cinjenica da Catrice sistem mozete koristiti sa bilo kojim lakovima za nokte (ne samo Catrice). Catrice sistem gotovo jednako (uz blago bolji rezultat sa Catrice lakovima) djeluje na lakovima razlicitih proizvodjaca dok je Essence sistem za kucno geliranje konkretno namijenjem za upotrebu sa Essence lakovima iz Gel Nail Polish linije (cije performanse navodno poboljsava za 60%). Ovu tvrdnju mozete pronaci na proizvodima ali i na Essence web stranici. Znaci da smo na samom pocetku ograniceni samo na Essence lakove. Pokusala sam Essence sistem koristiti na lakovima drugih brendova ali eksperiment nije uspio – Essie lakovi su se poceli krzati po ivicama brze nego kada ih nosim samostalno.
Essence The Gel Nail Polish Base Coat (8ml costs €2,59) – compared to the Catrice Ultra Stay & Gel Base Coat (10ml costs €3,49) – comes in a opaque, white bottle, is transparent with a barely-there blue tinge, has a slight chemical scent. For me, this is a diluted version of the Catrice base coat because it doesn't mattify the nail plate as much as the Catrice one does. Mattifying helps the nail polish adhere better to the nail and it removes any excess oil that would prevent the process. It also feels sticky a whole lot longer than the Catrice base coat does. Essence gel base coat works on its own with Essence nail polishes but, as a whole, I'd recommend the Catrice gel base coat since it provided much better results on my nails. Essence The Gel Nail Polish Top Coat (8ml costs € 2,59) – compared to the Catrice Ultra Stay & Gel Top Coat (10ml costs €3,49) – comes in a silver-colored bottle, has a fairly strong nail polish remover scent, is transparent and adds shine to the nail. Both (base & top coat) should be applied after each layer is completely dry and, admittedly, this is time-consuming with both, Catrice and Essence systems but the Essence seems to demand even more time as the base coat has a longer drying time. The top coat is better and I would recommend getting either the entire Catrice system – or combining the Catrice base coat with the Essence top coat. Both (Catrice and Essence) top coats do their jobs very well – nail polish is given a high-gloss effect, it's protected and it does last longer. How much longer exactly? With Essence, I get 3-4 days maximum while I usually get 1-2 days of wear with their nail polishes on their own. So this system certainly does extend the wear, just not as much as claimed. The Catrice system can give me up to 5 days of perfect wear so I do give Catrice bonus points for that and for the fact that it's a versatile system, suitable to be used on all nail polishes of different brands. Have you tried anything mentioned? If so, do share your experience.
Essence The Gel Nail Polish bazni lak (8ml kosta 5,25KM) – u poredjenju sa Catrice Ultra Stay & Gel baznim lakom (10ml kosta cca 7KM) – dolazi u bocici bijele boje, prozirne je teksture sa njezno plavicastim odsjajem i blago je hemijskog mirisa. U mojim ocima, ovo je razblazena verzija Catrice baznog laka posto ne matira nokatnu plocu jednako efektno kao on a funkcionise na istom principu. Matiranje nokatne ploce uklanja visak masnoce na noktu sto omogucava laku za nokte za bolje prijanja za sam nokat. Essence bazni lak je takodjer duze vrijeme ljepljiv, mnogo duze nego Catrice bazni lak. Essence bazni lak dobro funkcionise sa Essence lakovima za nokte ali, uopsteno – radije bih preporucila kupovinu Catrice baznog laka posto je na mojim noktima dao drasticno bolje rezultate. Essence The Gel Nail Polish nadlak (8ml kosta 5,25KM) – u poredjenju sa Catrice Ultra Stay & Gel nadlakom (10ml kosta cca 7KM) – dolazi upakovan u bocicu srebrne boje, relativno je jakog mirisa koji podsjeca na skidace laka za nokte, proziran je i noktu pruza sjaj. Oba (bazni lak i nadlak) bi se trebali nanositi navedenim redoslijedom nakon sto svaki sloj bude u potpunosti osusen. Citava procedura ne traje kratko (kod Catrice i Essence sistema) no susenje traje ipak nesto duze sa Essence verzijom. Essence nadlak je bolji od baznog laka i preporucila bih ili da kupite Catrice sistem ili da kombinujete Catrice bazni lak sa Essence nadlakom (ako pokusavate da ustedite koji novcic). Ipak oba nadlaka (Essence i Catrice) rade svoj posao kako treba – visoki sjaj je tu, nokti su zasticeni i trajnost manikira jeste produzena. A za koliko tacno? Sa Essence sistemom za geliranje, manikir mi traje 3-4 dana a inace mi Essence lakovi samostalno na noktima traju 1-2 dana. Catrice sistem za geliranje mi pruza do 5 dana trajnosti tako da Catrice od mene dobija dodatne bodove i prednost + vise me dojmio jer je prakticniji posto se moze koristiti sa lakovima razlicitih brendova. Da li ste isprobale neki od ova dva sistema za efekat geliranih noktiju? Ukoliko jeste, pozivam vas da ostavite svoje iskustvo u komentarima.
Essence The Gel Nail Polish Base Coat/ Essence The Gel Nail Polish bazni lak:
ALCOHOL DENAT., BUTYL ACETATE, ETHYL ACETATE, POLYVINYL BUTYRAL, TOSYLAMIDE/EPOXY RESIN, ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER, TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE, SILICA, NITROCELLULOSE, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, GLYCIDOXYPROPYL TRIMETHOXYSILANE, METHACRYLOYL PROPYLTRIMETHOXYSILANE, METHYLTRIETHOXYSILANE, MERCAPTOPROPYLTRIMETHOXYSILANE, BIS(T-BUTYL BENZOXAZOLYL) THIOPHENE, DIMETHICONE, BENZOPHENONE-1.
Essence The Gel Nail Polish Top Coat/ Essence The Gel Nail Polish nadlak;
ETHYL ACETATE, ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL, BUTYL ACETATE, CELLULOSE ACETATE BUTYRATE, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, TRIMETHYL PENTANYL DIISOBUTYRATE, TRIPHENYL PHOSPHATE, POLYESTER/POLYAMIDE RESIN,ALCOHOL DENAT., SHELLAC, DIMETHICONE, BENZOPHENONE-1, CI 60725 (VIOLET 2).
*Some of these products may have been sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclaimer.
